Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT The Vintage Garage - Bucharest, Romania.

Bogdan M. · Jan 4, 2013

December 2018:

My name is Bogdan and I am now 30 years old.
In 2011, after finishing a master's degree, I decided not to look for a job, but to start my own business.
I sold my car and invested everything I had to open an auto workshop specialized in BMW repair.
I always loved to work on cars and I believe that if you don't work in a domain that you like, you can't be happy.

Therefore I rented a 700 sq. feet building which was previously also an auto shop for 10 years. It needed a lot of work because it was build in the 30's.

I will update this first post as major changes are done to the garage.

I must say that my world has changed after I discovered this board.

This is how the garage looked before the old auto workshop moved:

And this is how everything looked after they cleared out:

Shortly after renting I sold my first car and bought a lot of building materials in order to start the renovation.

Starting the renovation was fun because it involved demolishing stuff:

Bogdan M. · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Vintage Garage - Bucharest, Romania

I decided that the best solution would be drywall, so that was the next step.
Because Romania is very cold in the winter time, I used 4 inch rigid foam for the ceiling.
For the ceiling I hired some people because I had no experience in installing something like that and there was no place for screw ups.

907toolman · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Wow, hard to believe that is the same place. Good Job!

nuklbstr83 · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Great job, the place looks amazing! Keep up your hard work and motivation! Never give up.

dubber · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Nice work. Doesn't it feel better that you can say that transformation was all done by you!

Bogdan M. · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

I wanted to hire people in order to save time, but I thought that the money would be better invested in tools and other things and that I could do it mainly alone because I had no other job.
It is obvious that a non-professional did the work, but I can now say that I learned a lot of things and that I have now a lot of respect for people who work in constructions and renovations. It's very hard work.

After the drywall ceiling install I saw that it wasn't very hard to install drywall, so I wanted to tackle the job of installing the drywall walls all by myself.

I can now say that there was a lot more work than I believed there would be at the start of the renovation.

Bogdan M. · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

nuklbstr83 said:
Great job, the place looks amazing! Keep up your hard work and motivation! Never give up.

Thanks!

dubber said:
Nice work. Doesn't it feel better that you can say that transformation was all done by you!

Thank you!
Yes, that's very true.
It's very fulfilling to make something nice with your own hands.

Bogdan M. · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

I then proceded in changing the door and also to insulate the the front of the garage.

One of my mistakes was that I didn't estimate well the costs, so when I was almost over with the renovation, I didn't have money to buy a good quality lift.
So I decided to build an inspection pit and buy a lift later on.

I digged it almost alone, with hand tools. I had help with 20% of it.

This is how the garage looked on the 22nd of may 2012, 7 months after I started the renovation.

akdiesel · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Blue man crew, nice work on the pit install.

jabberwoki · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

****** hell mate you`ve been busting your **** that place looks teriffic and i`m sure your neighbors love you now!
Great job.

Bull · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

That is an amazing transformation. It looks bright, clean, and nice to work in on the inside. What is the R-value of the 4" foam, and how cold does it get there? Here, I believe R-30 is the minimum recommendation for a ceiling.

Also, your English is quite good.

Finally, I am really excited when I get to see garages, tools, and projects from other countries. I think yours is the first from Romania that I have seen.

Henricogolfer · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Very nice, good luck. When do you open?

neonnblack · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Nice transformation. One thing i have always wondered about eastern European countries: how hard is it to get supplies and crews to do work? Like here you can run down to home depot a few miles away and get your stuff. I hope this doesnt come off sounding like im saying anything bad.

RivennHewn · Jan 4, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

I congratulate you. Not only for a job well done, but for having the balls to take on such a task and the foresight to invest in your future.

Bogdan M. · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

akdiesel said:
Blue man crew, nice work on the pit install.

Thank you!

jabberwoki said:
****** hell mate you`ve been busting your **** that place looks teriffic and i`m sure your neighbors love you now!
Great job.

Thanks! Well, not really, neighbours don't really care, even the owner of the building doesn't really care. She only cares about the money she receives as rent, nothing else.

Bull said:
That is an amazing transformation. It looks bright, clean, and nice to work in on the inside. What is the R-value of the 4" foam, and how cold does it get there? Here, I believe R-30 is the minimum recommendation for a ceiling.

Also, your English is quite good.

Finally, I am really excited when I get to see garages, tools, and projects from other countries. I think yours is the first from Romania that I have seen.

Thank you for your kind words.
I have studied English from when I was 5.

The rigid foam is EPS 100, here we don't have R values, but something similar.

Here we don't really have this type of pride in our work that most of you have, probably because of the country's former communist past which set abnormal values.
There are people that take great pride in their work, but they are rare.
Nowadays, everybody wants to be a manager in Romania, even if he doesn't know to do anything, so beeing an auto mechanic is a profession which isn't regarded as respectful. Probably things will change over time.

Henricogolfer said:
Very nice, good luck. When do you open?

I already opened in june.
I will post some newer pictures, unfortunately is not so easy to keep a garage clean when more than one person is working there so it's always a job in progress.

neonnblack said:
Nice transformation. One thing i have always wondered about eastern European countries: how hard is it to get supplies and crews to do work? Like here you can run down to home depot a few miles away and get your stuff. I hope this doesnt come off sounding like im saying anything bad.

Thanks!
No problem, I'm glad to answer all your questions.

Because the communist regime fall in 1989 and we are now in the EU, we have 11 shopping malls just in Bucharest. We also have a lot of the big european brands similar to Home depot: Baumax, Praktiker, Bricostore, Dedeman, Leroy Merlin, Ikea, Hornbach and a few others.
It's very easy to get supplies, but the problem is money. The majority of people don't really afford to buy things like that for a renovation because the average salary is very low, around 350 Euros = 457 USD.
The crews are mainly very low skilled and want very high prices, usually rip-offs.
I wanted at first to have the garage renovated by a crew of workers, but I was them at work when they installed the sealing and they were very sloppy, only interested in getting the job done fast to get payed fast.
They wanted 3000 euros only for the labor. As they usually do, the price would have gone higher day by day, building supplies would dissapear, and 3000 euros would get to be 5000 euros + supplies.
I have invested a lot more, but I am glad that I did the work myself and that I was not ripped off.
I would have gladly payed more than 3000 if I would have trusted the workers, but you can't really find good labor for a job like that.
A friend of mine renovated a bigger garage, it's the one that used the garage I use now before me, and he eventually payed 35 000 Euros for the renovation, the garage beeing double the size of mine.
He had a company do the job and, unfortunately, the result is not at all superior to mine.

RivennHewn said:
I congratulate you. Not only for a job well done, but for having the balls to take on such a task and the foresight to invest in your future.

Thanks!

Olliecampbell · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Looks great, what's next?

Bogdan M. · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

On the long run, buying tools and shop equipment. This is probably a lifetime disease.

I must buy / build more storage spaces - cabinets and shelving.

When I finished the restoration I painted the floor with a blue paint. It said on the box that is used for concrete floors, but it kind of fades away in time and it's not resistant to oils and other residues.
I have seen epoxy floors in auto shops and, IMO, it's not the best choice for an autoshop.
It's great for a garage, great for a home workshop, but not tough enough for the type of abuse it gets in an auto workshop.
I don't know what to do. I have seen pics of shiny concrete floors and I must say that the look is great and industrial, but I haven't seen something like that live.
Any opinions on that?

ConCretin · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Great job. I hope you're rewarded for your outstanding work ethic and ambition. Surely people will recognize the value in that especially if it is, as you say, somewhat rare.

Best of luck with your venture and please keep us posted. I'm sure a lot of us are pulling for you.

Bogdan M. · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Thank you very much for your kind words!
I have read all the pages of your build thread and I must say that I remained amazed by the quality of the build and the entire project, so I feel very flattered by your post.

Good luck to you too in completing your great project!

dandan111 · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Great job on that old garage,it looks real nice.

Sanko · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Hi man!
Realy nice work done. Clean and bright garage.
Hope you will have your lift soon, but inspection pit is just fine, I dont have nothing yet.
good luck to you

Bogdan M. · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

LLWillysfan said:
Great job. I hope you're rewarded for your outstanding work ethic and ambition. Surely people will recognize the value in that especially if it is, as you say, somewhat rare.

Best of luck with your venture and please keep us posted. I'm sure a lot of us are pulling for you.

Thank you very much for your kind words!

I feel very rewarded because I am now my own boss, which is both very hard because of the huge responsability of having to be succesful, but also very nice because you feel very good when you see that you have accomplished something with your own strength and work.
Financially, not yet, but I don't complain because it's only natural for a business to be profitable after at least one year after its beginning.
The first 6 month were the hardest because I had to pay everything from my pocket and the clients were scarce.
Now we have a small, but solid clientele which grows day by day.
We focus on the BMW brand, so it's easier than working on more than one brand, but ocassionally we fix other brands.

I have read all the pages of your build thread and I must say that I remained amazed by the quality of the build and the entire project, so I feel very flattered by your post.

Good luck to you too in completing your great project!

Bogdan M. · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

dandan111 said:
Great job on that old garage,it looks real nice.

Thanks!

Sanko said:
Hi man!
Realy nice work done. Clean and bright garage.
Hope you will have your lift soon, but inspection pit is just fine, I dont have nothing yet.
good luck to you

Thanks! Good luck to you too!

The lift is not a big priority. Tools and equipment are a lot more important.
I try to buy professional tools because the chinese and Taiwan stuff are not suitable for non-hobby use.

Scuderia-F1 · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

I think that you have done a great job with that garage.
Good decision with spending the money on good quality tools for the shop. I see that you have bought some Gedore tools already, and since you are into BMW´s (I´m a BMW man myself) maybe some Hazet will be added son. They have some great tools specific for BMW. If they are hard to get in Romania we have a German member here on the forum that can ship the tools directly to you, he have some pretty decent prices too.

Regarding your floor, maybe acid staining could be something in your taste!?

Good luck with your business & keep posting pics.

Cheers from Sweden.

Bogdan M. · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Thank you!

Yes, I know that Hazet makes special tools for BMW, they are on my wishlist.
I have more Gedore tools than in the pics, I will post them in a few days.
Does the member have a thread or an online shop?

I would like something like that for the floor:

Scuderia-F1 · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Bogdan M. said:
Thank you!

Yes, I know that Hazet makes special tools for BMW, they are on my wishlist.
I have more Gedore tools than in the pics, I will post them in a few days.
Does the member have a thread or an online shop?

I would like something like that for the floor:

I think that he sells his tools on ebay, but you can surely just send him a PM. Just search for user id jensputzier and I´m sure he can help you out. He is based in Leichlingen, Germany.

I´m not a concrete expert by any means, but that floor could very well be a acid stained floor, a polished one that is (IMHO it looks REALLY nice).

I´m looking forward to see pics of your tools and your work.

Bogdan M. · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Thanks for the info!

Yes, it looks great, you surely don't see something like that everyday.

I will post more pics.

regguy1 · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Good job....
You've done a lot of hard work in there, it looks so much better now. :thumbup:

I'm sure that as time goes on you'll do much more. I was in the auto repair business for 45 years and learned this: If you do a good job and are honest people will come back as repeat customers and send their friends to you. "Word of mouth" is the best advertising.

My project: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140674

Bogdan M. · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Thanks!
Yes, that's very true.
I heard a saying that goes like this: "A satissfied customer will maybe tell one person about his experience, whereas an unsatissfied one will talk to 10 people."

The garage dog (Eve):

Scuderia-F1 · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Bogdan M. said:
Thanks for the info!

Yes, it looks great, you surely don't see something like that everyday.

I will post more pics.

You´re welcome!
I have never bought anything from him (but when I´m going to buy hazet I´m going to buy from him), I have only read good things about him here.

HOTFR8 · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

You dug your pit with shovels, Wow. I needed an excavator to bust the rock out in mine.

pmason0 · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Very nice, clearly a lot of work went into it, I'm sure you are going to enjoy it now.

expatriated · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Bogdan, nice work! I was just in Bucharest a few months ago. I found the people very nice.

How do you get in and out of that pit?

Is there a store selling Gedore and Hazet in Romania?

coljar · Jan 5, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

I love reading threads like this to see what folks from other countries are doing in their garages even if it's not the home garage. You were talking about the crew you had doing the drywall and the expense. That can happen no matter where you live. Shotty work and materials getting nicked has no boundries. If your car work is as good as your garage renovation work, you should not have any problem having a very successful business.

Bogdan M. · Jan 6, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

HOTFR8 said:
You dug your pit with shovels, Wow. I needed an excavator to bust the rock out in mine.

Yes, with shovels. I also used a pneumatic pick hammer and a pichaxe.
I wanted to hire a big excavator, but I was rather discouraged by prices and by attitude.
I found some companies that had very high prices, but I also found someone who worked for a fair price, but he wasn't in the mood for working.

pmason0 said:
Very nice, clearly a lot of work went into it, I'm sure you are going to enjoy it now.

Thanks!

expatriated said:
Bogdan, nice work! I was just in Bucharest a few months ago. I found the people very nice.

How do you get in and out of that pit?

Is there a store selling Gedore and Hazet in Romania?

I have a metal ladder.
Not normal stores, but you can get Gedore, Hazet or Facom from different companies that import them in Romania.
I also bought some stuff from eBay.

coljar said:
I love reading threads like this to see what folks from other countries are doing in their garages even if it's not the home garage. You were talking about the crew you had doing the drywall and the expense. That can happen no matter where you live. Shotty work and materials getting nicked has no boundries. If your car work is as good as your garage renovation work, you should not have any problem having a very successful business.

Yes, that's very true.

It's a continuous learning process. That's what I like about mechanics, you can never know everything, there will always be something new to learn.
I work on any BMW, not just the old stuff, so I sometimes get very complex things, which is both hard but also interesting.
I also fix steptronic gearboxes which I found to be a lot easier than expected.

This is a GM 5L40-E gearbox from a BMW 530d E39:
http://imageshack.us/g/1/9951161/

STANIMAL · Jan 6, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Nice work , keep it going .

coljar · Jan 6, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Hey, I forgot to mention this, but that is a great looking garage dog.

Bogdan M. · Jan 6, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Thanks!
I don't bring her very often to the garage because I have to work and she is a terrorist.

thunderchunky · Jan 6, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Absolutely amazing transformation!

pals444 · Jan 8, 2013

Re: The Blue Garage - Bucharest, Romania

Bogdan, Your garage is great. You sure put a lot of effort into it, and that pays off.
I find it very interesting to see garages from other parts of the world. Although Romania isnt so far from Norway, it is a lot different. Thank You for posting, and look forward to updates. Best of luck with Your business.

Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT The Vintage Garage - Bucharest, Romania.

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